Role Reversal
by hannoyoko
Summary: Alexander Gromov was once at the top of the world. But now that things have changed, he's at the bottom of the heap and forced to come to terms with the unfortunate reality.


**Hey there! Obviously, this is my first fic for this fandom (that I've published). I've been reading romantically apocalyptic for around two years (it'll be 2 in August, close enough). Just letting y'all know that this is a oneshot. I have another oneshot that should be up within the next few days (I don't want to publish all my stuff all at once!), and then maybe some other multi-chapters planned. I write mostly about Engie and Snippy (I really,** ** _really_** **like eng/snip), so that's what you should expect from me for the most part! I'll try to be more diverse, but no promises! I just feel really comfortable writing those two, as it's what I'm used to.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

* * *

He'd considered himself through once Engie-B finished his long speech going on and on about how he'd outsmarted Gromov, and how Gromov didn't understand _anything_. It was a long-ass speech, and in any other circumstances he'd do what he could to speed things up. But because things were so dismal, he'd endured it, and done what he could to slow down the process, anything to buy him more time. He knew that regardless of how much time he had, he was powerless to do anything on his own. No matter what, his fate was sealed, and he was merely putting it off. Hah. Putting off his own death. He truly was a procrastinator right down to the bone, wasn't he?

But then things changed. Two people he'd never thought he'd be grateful for made their appearance, and now Alexander Gromov, former world-renowned engineer, the world's architect and near-omnipotent golden boy, was being saved by a madman and an unconnectable. Well, two madmen. One-and-a-half, more like. Seven was spoken for, sure, but Snippy wasn't quite half in the bag. He had his moments, though the engineer would never say such aloud.

Snippy and Seven showed up, guns-a-blazing and saved him. Irrefutably, the engineer now owed them both his life, something he thought he'd never say. And it was funny; for the longest time he'd done what he could to avoid Snippy, gone out of his way to ensure the man didn't know who he was. Because he was certain that given aforementioned information, Gromov would be a dead man.

But that wasn't the case. And now that the day's excitement was over, the three were walking to God knows where- he hadn't been told much of anything, in fact neither of them had said a word to him yet. And he wasn't fine with that as it was uncharacteristic of one and unnerving of the other for certain reasons. He couldn't tell what they were up to, or what was going to happen next. If it weren't for Seven's luck, he was certain they'd all be dead within days, as they couldn't last on the moon without food or water. But somehow, Seven _always_ found a way.

But then, Snippy breaks the silence.

" You okay?" Snippy asks. Alexander doesn't reply, too stunned by the chain of events that had played out in the past few hours.

" Anyone in there? Hello?" Snippy tries again, and when it doesn't work, " Gromov!" Momentarily, Gromov snapped out of whatever trance he was in, looking over at Snippy.

" I said, are you alright?" Snippy asks. Gromov nods numbly.

" Can you walk quicker, maybe?" Another nod. " Good. We need to get out of here."

" H-how?" Gromov splutters. They were on the moon, and "getting off" wasn't an option. Even so, where would they go from there? If his memory served, earth was still a shithole.

" I don't know," Snippy admits, " but I think Captain knows what to do."

Cap- ah, Seven. Right.

" And you trust-"

" We don't have a choice," Snippy says. " Now c'mon. I don't think Captain's too keen on waiting for us."

As Charles helps him stand, Gromov attempts to wrap his head around the events that had transpired over the past few hours- or days, he wasn't sure.

" Don't think about it just yet. Wait until we're out of danger," Charles reprimands as if he'd read Gromov's mind. " Trust me, it's easier that way."

With an eye roll, Gromov says, " so you've got experience with this type of situation, huh?" He asks as the two of them begin marching along, Snippy's gun drawn and ready to shoot when needed.

" Already back to your usual bitchy attitude, hm? And after we just saved you," Snippy replies.

" Whatever."

Snippy turns to face him so quickly that it throws Gromov off.

" Look," the sniper snaps, " I get that you're overwhelmed, but you don't need to take it out on me. Whatever stick you have up your ass, I recommend you pull it out now, because things are _not_ going to improve from here on out. I'm the only sane company you've got, so maybe you want to start acting more thankful for such." And with that, Snippy continues to march on without another word, leaving Alexander to stand in the same spot for a few moments before speed walking to catch up.

The rest of the walk is silent after that, Snippy leaving Gromov to brood and lick his wounds.

Which… there was a hell of a lot of the latter he would have to do after this was over. Sure, Engie-B was defeated, but Alexander couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was out there lurking, waiting for the ideal moment to attack.

He didn't want to think about that right now, so he breaks the silence by asking, " so… Bet it drove you up a wall being stuck with Pilot and Seven, huh?"

" Pi- yeah…" Snippy mutters absentmindedly, and Gromov can immediately tell there's something the other man won't let on about. Something he _really_ doesn't want to talk about. Which… fine, whatever, it wasn't like he was an open book either.

Aforementioned prompted another thought.

" Hey, you've been calling me Gromov this entire time." Snippy stiffens. Oh, so that was another sensitive topic. Great. That'd make ripping the bandaid off all the more difficult. But that didn't mean Gromov wanted to bring it up either, even if it was just better to get it out of the way.

" Yeah." Snippy says. " That's your name, isn't it?"

" Yeah…" Gromov says uneasily, " but aren't you mad?"

" You were a dick to me before the apocalypse. _Duh_." Snippy says. " but that was _before_ this," Snippy gesticulates about with his free hand, " can't pick and choose who lives and who doesn't, although that'd make things a helluva lot easier, I'm sure. For you, at least. I'm not so sure about myself, I didn't know many people I'd trust to endure the apocalypse with."

" Mhm," Gromov says, knowing that it's partially his fault Snippy's social life had been so dismal, what with Annie and all. " Sorry about that." He mutters, swallowing his pride for once. It was the least he could do, and the first in a string of kind gestures Gromov knew he'd have to do once the dust settled. He owed Snippy that much, and an apology was an alright enough place to start.

" I-" Snippy isn't sure how to respond. " For what?"

" For Annie. She ruined your life, and I didn't help much." He wasn't even going to bring up any of the other stuff, like the nuclear apocalypse falling squarely on his shoulders. If Snippy wasn't going to poke that bear, then neither was he.

" No, you didn't. But none of that matters now. The only people left are you, me, and Captain. We need to stick together, otherwise we're going to lose it. How about we start over and agree to not mention anything Annet-related?"

" I… think I'd like that," Gromov says. And although it can't be seen from behind his mask, a small smile has crept onto his face.


End file.
